Surface dressing composition for tennis courts



Patented Get. 20, 1936 PATENT OFFICE SURFACE DRESSING COMPOSITION FOR TENNIS COURTS Peter Mayo, Evanston, Ill.

No Drawing.

Application August 6, 1934,

Serial No. 738,687

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a composition of materials useful as a dressing for interior flooring or exterior surfaces such as tennis courts, golf tees or greens, baseball diamonds, roofing, driveways and the like, and for coating coils, armatures of electric motors and the like. The composition is also useful as a caulking material, a binder for core moulds in foundries and as a sealing composition.

More specifically, this invention relates to a resinous surface dressing composition for tennis courts which adheres to stone or brick chips, gravel particles, etc., forming the top surface of the court to cover the same with a sticky surface which tenaciously adheres to adjoining coated particles without forming an impervious layer over said particles.

The invention may perhaps be more conveniently described as a surface dressing composition for tennis courts, although it should be expressly understood that the composition has a wide range of uses as indicated above.

It is uniformily recognized that tennis courts, roadways and the like must be well packed and rolled to provide a smooth playing or wearing surface. Surface materials, such as clay, with good packing properties have therefore been used. However, these packed materials are relatively slow in absorbing moisture and surfaces composed of these materials require a great length of time to dry out after a rain. To avoid this difficulty, granite or brick dust has been used as a top dressing, since these materials do not fuse together when packed and thus allow moisture to drain through when the top surface is Wet. Stone or brick dust is not entirely satisfactory because it is easily moved from position, and a wind will quickly destroy the required even surface.

I have now found that chips of stone, gravel, brick, etc., can be used in place of stone or brick dust when they are treated with my composition.

Various compositions have heretofore been prepared for coating over tennis courts to impart waterproof characteristics thereto and to form a better wearing surface thereon. I have now provided a surface dressing composition, however, which does not destroy the porosity of the top dressing, while at the same time it greatly improves the wearing qualities of the court and imparts a high resiliency thereto.

The composition of this invention includes a resinous substance such as gum or wood rosin or artificial resins, a vegetable oil such as glycerides of fatty acids belonging to the linolenic and linolic groups, (drying or semi-drying oils) and a nondrying oil such as a petroleum oi1 or distillate.

This composition coats individual chips of brick or stone, etc., with an adhesive surface so that the chips or particles will adhere to adjoining chips or particles. At the same time, the composition is so tenacious that it will rupture itself between adjoining chips or gravel particles, thereby preserving the porosity and resiliency of the court.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an elastic surface dressing for tennis courts, driveways and the like, which does not destroy the porosity of the surfacing and foundation materials.

Another object of this invention is to provide a resinous dressing composition for tennis courts and the like which is characterized by its wearing and elastic properties.

A specificobject of this invention is to provide a resinous surface dressing composition which,

when applied to porous surfaces, coats the particles of said surfaces with an elastic sticky layer which, when set, will adhere to adjoiningparticles without forming a water impervious bond therebetween. 7

Another object of this invention is to provide a core binder for foundry moulds.

A further object of this invention is to prepare a surface dressing composition for electrical apparatus.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dressing composition which sets to yield an elastic, waterproof surface.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent from the following description and appended claims which form a part of this specification.

The composition according to this invention comprises a resinous material such as wood rosin, gum rosin, oleo-resins, resinous pitches and the like; a drying oil and/or a semi-drying oil; and a non-drying oil such as petroleum oils and distillates which are relatively non-volatile under atmospheric conditions.

Small amounts of sand (SiOz), sodium silicate (NazSiOg) and the like may be added to the composition to reduce its crystallization point. About 5 to 8% of these materials is desirable when the composition is used for tennis courts, roadways and the like in climates having sub-freezing temperatures during the winter months.

In addition, the composition may contain small .amounts of an alkali such as caustic soda (NaOH), caustic potash (KOI-I), soda ash (NazCOs), and the like to aid'emulsification of the ingredients. About 1 to 5% of one or more of these alkalis is sufiicient.

Depending upon the use of the composition a small quantity of a water-insoluble soap such as aluminum stearate may also be incorporated to increase the waterproofing properties of the composition. About 1 to 5% of the soap is sufiicient. The insoluble soap is desirable in compositions of this invention that are to be used in coating coils and other electrical apparatus.

Vegetable drying oils and semi-drying oils in the following list have been found to be desirable in my composition.

Drying oils Semi-drying oils Linseed oil Cottonseed oil Tung oil Corn oil Soya bean oil Rape oil Perilla oil Sesame oil These vegetable drying and semi-drying oils may be conveniently referred to as vegetable oils which are glycerides of fatty acids belonging to the group consisting of linolenic and linolic acids. Mixtures of these drying and semi-drying oils in various proportions may be used to obtain desired setting rates. Thus a mixture of 50% linseed oil, 25% rape seed oil and 25% tung oil forms a very satisfactory drying oil base for the composition of this invention. This composition should set within a few hours and should have a melting point of about 130 to 150 F. and a freezing point below 0 F.

Light gravity petroleum oils or petroleum oil distillates such as ice-machining oil and light machine oils in general may be used as the nondrying oils in the composition. These oils should preferably have a specific gravity between about .8 and .95 (20 to 40 B) and flash points above 200. They should not solidify above 40 F. and should preferably have a Saybolt viscosity between about to 200 seconds.

In general, the composition is composed main- 1y of resinous material and varying proportions of drying and non-drying liquid vehicles depending upon the use for which the mixture is intended.

By reason of the different weather conditions prevailing in different parts of the country in order to attain uniform preperties the materials must vary in proportion.

The following is a generic formula for my composition:

Percent Resinous material 50 to 80 Drying oil 10 to 30 Non-drying oil 10 to20 Silicon oxides (optional) 5to 8 Caustic alkali (optional) lto 5 Water insoluble soap (optional) lto 5 A preferred composition for outdoor use in a climate such as exists in the vicinity of Northern Illinois has the following formula:

Percent Rosin to 7 5 Boiled linseed oil 12 /2 to 15 Light gravity petroleum oil (20 to 40 B) 12 to 15 The optional ingredients listed in the generic formula may also be incorporated in the above formula if desired.

The composition is prepared by heating the rosin to a temperature of about 300 F. or over. The boiled linseed oil and light gravity petroleum oil are then added and the mass is stirred or otherwise agitated until a uniform viscous solution results.

Alkalis, silicates and/or insoluble soaps may then be added in the proportions indicated above.

It should be understood that while the composition is specifically described as a surface dressing for tennis courts and the like that it has many uses as a binder and sealing material as are indicated above.

I am aware that numerous details of the process and composition may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the prior art,

I claim:

1. A composition for use as a tennis court surface dressing consisting essentially of 50 to 80% rosin, 10 to 30% of a drying oil, and 10 to 20% of a petroleum oil of 20 to 40 B.

2. A composition for use as a tennis court surface dressing, consisting essentially of 70 to rosin, 12 to 15% of boiled linseed oil and 12 to 15% of a petroleum oil of 20 to 40 B.

PETER MAYO. 

